


spellbound by this danse macabre

by ZippyZapmeister



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ballet, F/F, idk if that T rating is necessary but just in case, maki's dumb and gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-18 01:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10606560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZippyZapmeister/pseuds/ZippyZapmeister
Summary: Maki wasn't used to having competition.Correction: Maki wasn't used to having irritatingly gorgeous competition.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of some more [love live blog shenanigans](http://shiitake-is-the-zodiac-killer.tumblr.com/post/159431350016/spellbound-by-this-danse-macabre)

For once, Maki Nishikino found herself speechless.

 

It was for a variety of reasons, she believed. Maybe because she was used to having the studio to herself after eight PM. Maybe because the ballerina in front of her twirled and leaped like she had been doing it since she came out of the womb. Or, maybe, just maybe, because that very ballerina was the hottest girl Maki had seen in forever.

 

Her face was stern, cold, serious; perfectly in sync with her shining blonde hair and her icy blue eyes. Somehow, even though her expression was hard, it was somehow at peace, as if her graceful movements were soothing her, in a way. Maki couldn’t take her eyes off of her. The burning flame of jealousy in her chest gave way to what she hated to admit was raw attraction. Even so, she was still furious. For years, she had been the best dancer at her company; after all, her father owned it, in part. She had heard that a talented Russian girl was coming to Japan to join, but Maki had never  _ really _ thought she would be competition, even  _ if _ she was moving from another continent to join a prestigious dance group. Okay, maybe Maki was underestimating her, but...

 

“Usually people clap after a performance.”

 

Maki was startled out of her bitter reverie by a warm, somewhat  _ rich _ voice. Maki almost automatically snapped back, but she saw the small upward turn of the girl’s lips and realized that she was fucking around. Cute. Not only that, but she hadn’t even broken a sweat. Maki could barely see her (very, very ample) chest moving from her breath. Maki quickly had to scramble to regain some of her dignity. “I’d hardly consider that a performance. I don’t know what you all do over in Russia, but here, we consider that sloppy.”

 

“Is that so? Well, I can only hope to improve.”

 

For a second, Maki was thrown for a loop. After all, the girl hadn’t been sloppy at all...and yet, when Maki insulted her, she just acted as if nothing was wrong. Maki was a little bit frightened, in all honesty. Somehow, her shocking beauty was just as intimidating as it was alluring. Her eyes were still hard, but somehow, kind. Maki wasn’t sure if this girl would kill her or bring her places she had never been before. “You’re...” Maki licked her dry lips. “Ayase Eli.”

 

“Yes, that’s me. I assume you’re Nishikino Maki, then,” Eli said, offering her hand. Maki took it only out of politeness. Definitely not because her hands looked soft (and looks didn’t deceive). “Your father told me that you usually stay here late. I thought we could practice together. I’ve heard that you’re an excellent dancer.”

 

“It’s your first night in the country, yes? Don’t you think you should be resting instead of lingering around the studio at such a late hour?” Maki turned away, looking outside of the windows onto the empty street. Hopefully, Eli hadn’t seen her blush...

 

“I’m hardly uncomfortable. If you don’t want to dance with me, you can always go home.”

 

_ Me?! Go home?! Who the hell does she think she is?! _ “L-listen, I-I shouldn’t have to go anywhere,” Maki spluttered.

 

“I’m not telling you that you have to,” Eli replied simply. “You’re always welcome to watch. Then, you can tell me how to fix my form.”

 

Maki cringed hard, then looked over her shoulder. Eli seemed completely sincere. She turned around fully, blushing even harder at the sight of Eli’s smile. “Fine. But...let’s get some music.”

* * *

“You’re moving way too fast today, so far. Try to slow down, and keep in sync with the rest of us.”

 

Only a week in the country, and yet, she was parading around the place like she was the damn queen. Maki could take that. She could handle the syrupy-sweet modesty that Eli showed when she was complimented (which was many times over), and she could handle the other girls crowding around Eli to fawn over her gorgeous blonde hair and clear blue eyes...

 

But Maki Nishikino wouldn’t let herself be belittled.

 

Maki slammed her water bottle down, and the girls who had been waiting (like dogs, like pitiful dogs, Maki thought) to talk to Eli scattered. “I was in time.”

 

“No. I’m sorry, but you-”

 

“Maybe  _ you _ were dancing too slow!”

 

“See, I thought that might be it,” Eli said, continuing as if Maki  _ hadn’t _ just  _ obviously _ dismissed her. “After all, we all have bad days, so I checked myself before anybody else. But I looked around me and realized that everybody else was in sync with me, which means that you were the one that was off. My apologies.”

 

Maki took a chug of her water bottle. She was a little bit parched, which was unusual for the routine they were doing.  _ Maybe because you were going too fast, _ her brain said, but her stubborn spirit dismissed the thought instantly. As she pulled it away from her lips, she realized that Eli was watching her.

 

...Watching her.

 

“Hey. Ayase.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“How’d you know I was off?”

 

“...Pardon?”

 

“How did you know I was off of the rhythm?”

 

“Oh. I was watching you.”

 

Maki had assumed that she found her “gotcha”, the one thing she could say that would break the ice queen’s exterior in one hit, but Eli didn’t seem at all humiliated. Maki wouldn’t let it go, though. She was  _ going _ to win. “Seriously? Just  _ staring _ at me while we danced? Don’t you think that’s kind of creepy?”

 

“Mm, maybe.” Maki’s jaw dropped, but reacting was a mistake; Eli chuckled. She knew that Maki was trying to get under her skin, and it  _ entertained _ her. Maki wanted to crawl into a hole and die. “Yes, I watch you. Quite often. You’re not too bad to look at. Keep it up.”

 

“Keep  _ what _ up? If you think I’m cute, I’m not going to  _ stop _ being cute any time soon,” Maki scowled, standing.

 

Eli stood, and Maki almost wanted to snort when she realized that Eli was only slightly taller than her. Somehow, that brought her enough satisfaction to get over her embarrassment. However, Eli brought it right back when she said, “I never said you were cute. I just like to watch you dance. Keep up being a good dancer.”

 

“Well, you’re not that cute yourself, so-”

 

“I never said you weren’t cute.”

 

“Then what are you saying?!”

 

“I’m saying...” Eli leaned in, so close that Maki could smell perfume, a hint of sweat, and the lightest whiff of chocolate. “I’m saying that you should dance slower.”

* * *

Maki hated doing leaps.

 

She really didn’t think anybody in the class was worthy of being that close to her, let alone being trusted to catch her when she jumped through the air. In fact, she hardly talked to anybody else in the company.

 

Except for Eli.

 

“You’re a matter of circumstance,” Maki said, the second she approached Eli when the instructor told them to pair up. “I’ll probably drop you out of spite if you jump, so I might as well go first...even though I don’t want anybody else here touching me.”

 

Maki quickly realized her mistake and how wide an opening she left, but Eli didn’t even take the opportunity to tease her. She just smiled and nodded knowingly. “I see. Shall we begin, then? I’ll catch you, twirl, then set you down.”

 

Maki didn’t reply, just stepped back and took her position. Leaps were part of the choreography for their upcoming show. Maki didn’t know what part she was going to audition for, but she knew that the lead character did a lot of leaps, so she probably wasn’t even going to bother. However, she wanted to see what Eli could do.

 

And, okay, yeah, she wanted to see what it was like to have Eli carrying her. Just once.

 

She did the part of the choreography leading up to the leap, then ran towards Eli, jumping off the ground with a push of her toes...

 

It was over within seconds. 

 

Eli caught her, twirled as she said she would, then set her down. Maki felt like she had  _ missed _ it somehow, and she almost asked to do it again, but Eli was already talking. “That was good. You know, for someone who doesn’t like being touched, you loosened up very well. People I’ve done that with before tend to stiffen and-”

 

“Good work, ladies! Elichika, such swift, beautiful movements, as always. And Maki! Your legs were perfectly pointed!” The dance instructor came over, grinning ear-to-ear.

 

Maki knew trouble when she saw it.

* * *

“Us! The two lead roles! Can you  _ believe _ it, Maki?”

 

“I don’t want to...”

 

Eli had decided to make interrupting Maki’s after-eight solo practices a permanent fixture, apparently. Every time Maki tried to use a snide comment to kick her out, Eli simply retorted back with her quick wit or just brushed it off. Maki hated how  _ calm _ and  _ collected _ Eli was, while Maki herself was so easily frustrated.

 

“Well, now we really  _ should _ start practicing together. It’s the best way for us to stay organized and be ready for the show. Only a month to go!”

 

They dropped their bags and started to stretch. Maki didn’t speak, but Eli filled the air enough for both of them, talking about the characters of the show and the events that took place. They were onstage almost all of the time, so Maki had a basic idea based off of what they had done during classes, but Eli filled in the gaps quite well. The story was about a woodland fairy, Eli, and a girl who ran off to the forests, Maki, and their friendship. It seemed boring to Maki, but Eli always knew how to make things interesting.

 

“What if they ran off together at the end?”

 

“One of them already did. And doesn’t the girl die of illness at the end?”  _ Serves her right. What an idiot, going to live in the woods with animals and fairies. Of course you’d get sick! Why run away from a good life in the first place, anyway? So what, your parents don’t let you do whatever you want...that’s life, _ Maki thought. Although, sometimes, she wished she could run away too. But who didn’t? She honestly hated her role.

 

“Okay, but if she  _ didn’t _ die. Sorry about that, by the way,” Eli said, giving Maki a genuinely mournful look as she bent over. As if Maki cared. “But if she didn’t die...what if they became lovers?”

 

“Not with a ten-foot pole in a bottle of disinfectant, but thanks.”

 

“I don’t mean us. The characters. I’m serious. I wanna know what you think.”

 

Maki stood from her stretches, and Eli straightened. They walked away from the bar as Maki said, “That probably would happen, but I’d hate it. It’s too boring.”

 

“How so?” Eli furrowed her brow. “Honestly, you seem like the closet romantic type...”

 

Maki nearly vomited. “No. No, I’m not, that stuff is dumb. I mean, it’ll get too plain after a while...just being all lovey dovey and stuff. The fairy...Seina, is it? And the girl, Yuki...they’re both so positive and happy and cuddly. I wouldn’t want that all of the time. I need something that keeps me on my toes, something...cutting-edge.”

 

Eli went silent, making Maki wonder if she had said something weird. For a second, she was worried (even though she  _ totally _ didn’t care about Eli’s opinion), but then she heard a soft giggle. “That’s so tsundere of you, Maki.”

 

“...Shut up and turn on the music.”

* * *

Three nights. Maki had to make it through three nights.

 

Rehearsals had gone well, Eli was so stupidly flawless, and Maki corrected her own mistakes rather quickly. But, for the record, there were hardly any at all, and Eli seemed to be complimenting her over and over again. Maki even pushed aside her pride and gave Eli a few of her own, which Eli either shyly accepted or denied. On the night before the show, during rehearsal, Eli accidentally grabbed Maki’s butt while catching her, and crumbled into apologies. Maki was a little bit happy, after finally seeing Eli showing some kind of humility.

 

Three nights.

 

The first went well. Everyone did wonderfully, and by the time it was all over, it seemed like a blur, like it had maybe never even happened at all; however, she heard the astounding applause, and it made her heart race. Her and Eli received so many roses and cheers that Eli looked like she was going to cry, for a second. The second went likewise; Maki felt like she fumbled towards the ending, perhaps out of excitement, but afterwards, Eli rambled about how excellent she was up until the instructor physically shooed them home.

 

The third night was when everything changed.

 

At the beginning of the night, Eli seemed nervous, but Maki chalked that up to it being closing night. Everything went fine up until the very end, when everybody came onstage to bow. Of course, Eli and Maki were front and center. The roaring applause in Maki’s ears and the light of the stage and the roses at her feet made everything so wonderfully bright. Especially Eli. God, Eli was beautiful. Maki had always known it, but when she turned to Eli after their bow and saw Eli looking back, her eyes struck something in Maki that Maki didn’t know was there.

 

And then Eli kissed her.

 

Maki, afterwards, wondered how the crowd reacted. However, as soon as Eli’s lips hit hers, everything else was background noise. Her eyes didn’t shut, but Eli’s did, and Maki watched her face as their tongues lightly, almost timidly, brushed against each other. Then, the kiss ended, so abruptly and too soon for Maki’s liking, and Eli dragged her backstage.

 

Right after that, their instructor dragged Eli into her office.

* * *

“You haven’t been scolded until you’ve been yelled at in Russian.”

 

Maki hated how fast she turned around at the sound of Eli’s voice. They had a week off from practice after the show, and Maki had to admit, she was worried that Eli had gotten kicked out of the company. After all, doing something like that on stage...Maki was kind of thankful that she was seen as involuntary in the whole thing, even though she wanted nothing more than to do it again. Maybe. “Wh-what happened, Eli?!”

 

“Well, I got yelled at by Madame, then my parents called and yelled at me, and then your dad did, too. As is expected. I was out of line,” Eli said. Her voice was rather calm. Her eyes were on Maki, as they always seemed to be, but everybody in the class was watching, blatantly interrupting their warm-up stretches as soon as Eli walked in. Maki somehow felt territorial. “Thankfully, I’m still allowed to be here...oh, good job at the show, Maki.”

 

Once again, Eli’s calmness was infuriating. Maki wanted to say so many things (such as “please kiss me again”), but the instructor walked back in the room, and they separated. However, Maki said over her shoulder, “Talk to me after class.”

 

Maki was off her game all day, trying to watch Eli and also keep in time. When class ended, she rushed over to Eli, who chuckled and said, “Let’s wait till everyone else leaves, and have one of our late-evening sessions.”

 

Although the instructor seemed rather weary of leaving them by themselves in the studio, eventually, everybody filed out, leaving Eli and Maki by themselves. Suddenly, Maki found herself wishing she had worn some cute lingerie. It was doubtful that she would just  _ suddenly _ get laid, but...not impossible.  _ Well, it is now. I mean, after all, I didn’t even bother to match my underwear and bra today! What would Eli think if she- _

 

“So, I bet you have a lot of questions. You don’t seem angry, so that’s good,” Eli began. Maki perked up, listening intently. “But I still feel that I must apologize. You see, the third day was particularly hard for me. I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time, Maki...and being so close to you in the show may have been pulling up some feelings I had been trying to subdue. And when you looked at me, I guess my heart jumped ahead of my-”

 

“Your heart? So what are you saying? You like me, right?”

 

That sudden outburst tinted Eli’s cheeks pink, but Maki didn’t feel any sense of triumph. Instead, she felt anxiety. What if Eli was just joking around? “Yes, Maki, and I really don’t know how I could have made it any clearer.”

 

“Shoving your tongue down my throat on stage certainly helped.” Maki wondered if she was too blunt, for a second, but then she heard Eli snicker. She mumbled, “I like you too, but you’ve got a seriously weird way of showing it...”

 

“Oh, really?  _ I _ have a weird way of showing it? You told me you’d drop me if I leapt into your arms!”

 

“I-I was just kidding,” Maki said defensively, but she couldn’t help laughing along with Eli. 

 

Eli was inching closer, and when Maki looked up, she saw that Eli was close enough to, maybe, perhaps, kiss. “Alright, Maki, I’ll try again. It’ll be less weird since we’re not on stage, right?”

 

“It’s still weird to confess to somebody by just kissing them whether you’re on a-”

 

Before Maki could blink, Eli had her arm around her waist and was kissing her again, and Maki felt like she could have fainted in Eli’s arms. Maki was still rather conservative, at first, but Eli held nothing back, pulling Maki close. Eli tasted like chocolates, too, something Maki had failed to notice before but found absolutely intoxicating.

 

A second too soon, Eli pulled back, panting and smiling. Maki still hated the sight of Eli’s dumb, beautiful face, but boy was it beautiful, and all hers... “Better?”

 

The sincerity of Eli’s question left Maki no room to deny her an answer. “...Yeah. It’ll do.”


End file.
